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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205561">Oh my god they were podmates</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtherealbork/pseuds/iamtherealbork'>iamtherealbork</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dutch Thor, Fluff, IN SPACE!, Italian Tony Stark, M/M, Romanian Bucky Barnes, Roommates, Russian Natasha Romanov, oh my god they were roommates, the science and shit could be wrong, very minimal research</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:34:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,024</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtherealbork/pseuds/iamtherealbork</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter is part of a group of astronauts in charge of manning the international space station "The Avengers". He's assigned to be partners with hot astronaut James "Bucky" Barnes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Peter Parker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>SSBB Trope is in the Air</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Oh my god they were podmates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Oh my god this was so hard to start. This fic is my addition to the SSBB's Trope is in the Air Challenge and the prompts I got were "Roommates" and "in space" and it took forever for me to figure out a cohesive plot lmao. I decided on this plotty one. It was originally supposed to have smut at the end but I decided to scrap it for now. This was so fun to write though. These two boys are just so dumb and I love them. Thanks again to CeeCeefor beta'ing and special thanks to my loving husband Cherise for the Romanian parts I love you 🥺</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Space. People say that space is the loneliest place in the world. It makes you feel insignificant as you stare out into the infinite plane of stars. Screaming into the nothingness, but none will hear you. Luckily, however, it does not apply to one young mechanic, Peter Parker.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter Parker was part of a group of trained astronauts that have been assigned to man the international space station, The Avenger. Nations of the UN contributed their best people for the job. Italy sent their best engineer and pilot, Anthony Stark. Russia sent Natasha Romanov, as their Mission Specialist. Dr. Bruce Banner from the United States was their on ship doctor and many more from all over the world. They had their first meeting together a long time before they were set to go to space. They wanted the astronauts to form bonds and relationships with the people they’ll be stuck with for god knows how long.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The meeting was held at the U.N. base in Vienna; in one of the conference rooms. Peter arrived with his two other colleagues, Dr Banner and Captain Rogers, their Commander. When Peter first met them at NASA, he was intimidated by the two men he stood before him... One had 7 PhD’s and the other is a national legend. Steve Rogers has been to outer space more times than anyone in the entire team. The two older astronauts made him feel welcomed immediately. Dr Banner was a generally shy, not outspoken man but they were able to bond over their love of biochemical engineering. And Steve Rogers is basically a golden retriever. Peter, of course, embarrassed himself when he first opened his mouth. He has been huge fans of the two ever since he was younger and they were a huge inspiration to him growing up (he also had massive crushes on the two of them at some point in his life). There was another one also from the U.S.A. that he hadn’t met yet, Sam Wilson. He hadn’t been able to meet them during their first meeting and had been travelling for a while. Luckily he was already in Europe so he was just going to meet everyone else there. From what he’s heard, he was one of the best aeronautical engineers out there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They entered the conference hall and saw a couple of people already there. Thor, the flight engineer from the Netherlands, a hulking man, was the first one to greet them when they entered the room. His booming voice reverberated through Peter’s entire body. He was bigger than Captain Rogers not only in height, but also in body mass. Clint Barton, the navigation specialist from Hungary, was talking to a red headed lady he recognized to be Natasha Romanov from Russia. His eyes, however, stopped at the man sitting at the back with a metal arm. James Buchanan Barnes from Romania. He couldn’t help but admire the beautiful workings of his arm. He wondered how responsive it was to external forces and how small the delay between the brain and the arm is, if there even was one. Rogers greeted his colleagues and led them to their seats, right next to Barnes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a while, when everyone had arrived and was seated, Nick Fury entered the room. He was going to be their main man on Earth while they were working up there on the space station.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good morning, astronauts. You are here because you are the best your respective countries have to offer. Later this year, you will be boarding a ship that will take you to the international space station, “The Avenger”. While up there, you will be monitoring and taking care of the station together for a long time. Because of that, you were brought here today to get to know the only people you will see for the years you’ll be up there. Get comfortable,” Mr Fury announces to the room. He looks around and sees that most of them aren’t really paying that close attention, and to be honest, Peter doesn’t blame them. He was briefed multiple times about what this trip was about and what the entire mission entails. He looks to his left and sees James Barnes staring at him, and he smiles. Peter smiles back, blushing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I want you all to trust each other because up there, you will have to trust them with your lives.” Fury adds on. “You will be spending a certain amount of time in each one of your home countries. Think of it as a team building exercise. Stark has graciously lended his jet for your transportation between countries.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After the meeting, everyone started to mingle with each other. Getting to know each other with water cups in their hands. Steve left Peter to go talk to Stark, or “Please, kid, call me Tony. We’re all friends here- or at least will be” while Dr. Banner left him to go talk to Ms. Romanov. He was awkwardly standing alone as he tried to figure out who to go up to when he felt a tap on his left shoulder. It was Barnes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, hi there!” Peter says as he faces the taller man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hi. What’s your name?” Bucky says with a deep voice with a slight accent that makes Peter weak. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m Peter Parker. Glad to meet you.” Peter sticks out his arm for a handshake and Barnes returns it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, I see. I’m James Barnes, but I guess you already knew that, since you’re gonna be in charge of this boy right here.” James releases his hand (unfortunately) and knocks his fingers against his metal arm. Peter laughs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, well, thank you for introducing yourself and your boy to me. I appreciate it,” Peter says back. Peter’s job is basically what James said. Peter is to monitor his arm and make sure it’s working properly. Which is why Peter will be spending most of his time shadowing James. He needs to build their trust in each other because they’ll be working very close to each other 24/7.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They continue talking to one another for the rest of the day. Of course other people come up to them and they converse with them as well, but for the most part they were always seen together. The two became quick friends and were pretty much attached to the hip. He even told Peter to call him Bucky instead of James. Granted, he told the entire team to call him that, but he asked Peter first and it made him feel just a tiny bit special. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When the day was over, they all made a group chat so they could message more easily. They all shared their phone numbers, were added to the group and left. Peter was in the car with Steve and Bruce that was supposed to take them to their hotel when he felt his phone vibrate, indicating he got a message.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Bucky: it was nice meeting you. see you tomorrow. </em>
</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The bonding exercise was quite fun. They explored Vienna together and since none of them came from the country, they all got to go sightseeing together. While Peter was still next to Bucky, he quickly formed a mentor-mentee relationship with Tony. Tony felt like he had to teach Peter the ropes because he was the youngest. They still respected each other, of course. Peter was one of the youngest people to become an astronaut in the world and Tony was severely impressed by that fact as he became one too around the same age Peter did. They spent one of their days at the oldest amusement park in the world (which Peter compared Tony to). They got on one of the rides which was basically a slingshot; It could only hold two people at a time so Peter got on with Bucky. Even though they were trained astronauts and have gone through multiple simulations and G-Force training, they were terrified. Bucky was honestly concerned about his arm falling off while being shot up. If that happens then he will feel bad for whoever will get hit by the arm on it’s way down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The team went to a rifle booth where they had to shoot at targets. Bucky, along with Clint and Natasha, had an impressive but terrifying aim. All of their shots hit the bullseye every time and they won an enormous amount of prizes. It turned into a competition to see who could get the most prizes by the end of the day. Peter left them and went to hang out with the others at the other rides. He rode one of the water coasters with Thor and they got soaked. The pictures from the ride were hilarious to see; Peter sitting at the front with a soaked blonde giant dwarfing him from behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They returned to the <em> apparently skilled marksmen </em>to see 3 identical piles of stuffed toys. They were still going at it and Peter was shocked at the dedication they had. He was also surprised that they hadn’t been kicked out yet for winning all the prizes. They eventually had to stop shooting but Clint was able to come out on top at the end because of the archery booth. Bucky and Natasha were not skilled in a bow and arrow but Clint seemed to have the knack for it. The team took one look at the piles of toys and just laughed. They decided to hand them out to children instead of keeping them and Peter felt a warm feeling in his body every time he made a child smile. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter and Bucky were walking through the park when they got separated from the group. They had dinner reservations at a nearby restaurant so they decided to just meet them there when the time was up. Bucky was talking to Peter about one of the children he gave a toy to when Peter stopped walking. Bucky noticed and saw that he was staring off to the side. He followed his gaze and saw that he was staring at the row of claw machines at the side. With his mind made up, Bucky took Peter’s hand in his and strode over to the wall. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You see anything you like, Pete?” Bucky asked as he looked at Peter. He was sure that Peter would say “No” so he was carefully watching his face to see if he could spot which one caught Peter’s attention, but he surprised him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The fat wolf. I want the dumb one.” Peter pointed to a claw machine at the side and dragged Bucky over to it. The wolf Peter was referring to was the one with simple dots for eyes instead of the full detailed one like the others. Peter let go of Bucky’s hand and pulled out a coin to put in the machine. The machine started up and Peter concentrated on getting the one at the back. It was the one in the most optimal position so Peter went for it. He clicked the button and saw the claw grab it but not hold. Disgruntled, Peter put in another coin and tried again. He failed. He put in another one. He failed again. And another one. Failed. He had his tongue stuck out and his brows furrowed in what Bucky has dubbed his concentration face. Peter was getting more frustrated every attempt and after what must’ve been the 17th attempt Peter threw his arms in the air in frustration.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ugh why is this so hard! I’m an astronaut for god’s sake. Literally rocket science is easier than this,” Peter pouted and Bucky found it to be the most adorable thing. </p>
<p><br/>“How badly do you want this thing?” Bucky asked with an amused smile. He checked his watch and saw that they only had a couple of minutes left before they had to start making their way to the restaurant. <br/><br/></p>
<p>“I’m not leaving until we get that fat wolf,” Peter says as he starts digging through his pockets for another coin. Bucky let out a laugh and nudged Peter away from the machine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wha- Wait- No! I still ha-” Peter pulls out a coin and Bucky takes it from him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you.” Bucky puts the coin in and starts moving the joystick towards the stuffed toy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And what if you fail this one?” Peter asked with his body pressed against Bucky’s, trying to see what he’s doing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then I’ll use my metal arm to break the glass and take one. And then we’ll book it to the restaurant.” Bucky turns his head to smile at Peter and notices how close they were. He looks at Peter’s lips and quickly turns away again, focusing on the crane. Bucky doesn’t click the button and instead waits for the timer to run out. He does small little nudges before the claw starts lowering down. By some miracle, Bucky was able to grab onto it’s head and pull it upwards. It carries the wolf to the hole and drops it. Peter screams and hugs Bucky tightly. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you thank you thank you!!” Peter presses kisses to his cheeks and goes to open the flap to retrieve the wolf. While Peter was occupied, Bucky lifts his hand to touch the cheek Peter kissed, and blushes. He lowers his hand once Peter turns around with the wolf in his arms. Peter asks Bucky to take a picture and Bucky obliges. It was the fat wolf plushie paired with Peter’s cherub cheeks that made the most adorable picture which made Bucky smile himself while taking it. Bucky took a couple more pictures when a passerby offered to take a picture of the two of them. Bucky was about to decline when Peter enthusiastically accepted the offer and gave the phone to the stranger. He dragged Bucky towards him and Bucky instinctively wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling Peter closer. He looked down at Peter and saw him smile widely at him and turn towards the camera. Bucky smiled softly and turned to the camera as well, feeling warm and happy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The trips they had together as a team really did bring them closer together. He has to say his favorite time was when they visited Romania and Bucky acted as a tour guide for them. Bucky even took them to the part of town where he came from. It was only for a brief moment since Bucky said “There’s really not much to do here,” and they continued on with their tour. They did, however, have time to stop by his dad’s auto repair shop and he introduced himself to Bucky’s parents. They couldn’t speak English so Bucky had to translate for them. His mother came up to him and said, “Doamne, e așa drăguț! Ar fi bine să nu îl lași să îți scape.” He wasn’t sure if it was directed to him or Bucky. He just smiled and turned to Bucky and saw him blushing and sputtering out, “Nu este ceea ce crezi, mamă.” The parents just laughed and Bucky pushed him out of the shop. Peter waved goodbye while being kicked out of the shop and asked Bucky what they said. Bucky just said, “They said it was nice to meet you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He tried multiple times to pronounce the words correctly but Bucky always just laughed. He tries to say the easy things like “Thank you” or “Sorry” when he can but he always just slips up. He did, however, surprise them when they were in Italy and he was able to speak fluent Italian. Tony had a blast speaking to him in his native language and Peter was able to catch up without any big problems (Aunt May would be proud). The time they took the team to New York was up there too. Peter and Steve kept arguing about which borough being the better one, Queens or Brooklyn. They tried some New York style pizza which Tony slandered. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One day, Peter was able to snag two tickets to a musical that was showing and asked Bucky if he wanted to go. Bucky agreed and they decided to dress up a bit. The suit Bucky wore complimented his form. It hugged his muscles right, but sadly covered the masterpiece which was his arm. While Bucky was comfortable showing off his arm around the team, he was more self-conscious about showing it to the public eye and Peter understands. He wasn’t that comfortable about his body either and Bucky protested when Peter told him that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You shouldn’t feel self-conscious about your body, Pete!” he said as they were walking down the street, on their way back to the hotel. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey! You can’t say that, you hypocrite,” Peter pointed at him with a smile. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know what that means so it doesn’t affect me,” Bucky grinned. Even though Bucky’s English proficiency level is really good, there were still some words that he didn’t know and Peter always told him what they meant. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It means that if I can’t be self conscious about myself, then you can’t either.” Peter bumps into Bucky as he says back. A gust of wind flew by and Peter shuddered. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you cold?” Bucky asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, I’m fine, we’re almost there to the hotel anyway,” Peter denies but Bucky takes his hands and holds them in his own. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re freezing, Peter! Why didn’t you say something? We could have taken a taxi.” Bucky’s frown scrunches together in worry and Peter starts to feel warmer knowing that Bucky cared about him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because I wanted to walk with you. Nighttime is always so pretty. Besides, I didn’t want to go back yet,” Peter says with a smile when he feels something being draped over him. It’s Bucky’s blazer. It’s huge on him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But what about you?” Peter starts to shrug it off but Bucky stops him by putting his hands on his shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m fine. You seem to need it more than I do.” Bucky fixes the blazer to try to make it fit Peter better but it’s no use. It’s still too big. Peter puts his arms through the sleeves and his hands don’t even peek out. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter hides his face in the collar. “Thanks…” The jacket smells like him and it is in fact making him warmer. Whether that’s because of the extra layer or it’s because of Bucky, he doesn’t know. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>----------------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course it wasn’t just all play. They still did a lot of preparations and simulations. They looked over their papers and assignments multiple times over the span of a couple of months. Peter got to work with the metal arm up close to familiarize himself with it while at the same time Bucky was going over the schematics of the ship and the space station. Memorizing every single detail just in case something happens. And before they knew it, it was time for them to depart. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"T-minus 15 minutes before lift off," ground control announced. Everyone was already in position. They were all looking at last minute preparations to make sure the launch would go smoothly. It would be a dark twist if after all this time they die before they even leave the Earth's atmosphere. Peter was getting anxious and he was glad that he's not having a panic attack…yet. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey." Peter looks to his right and sees Bucky looking at him comfortingly. "It's going to be alright. We got the best crew on deck." Peter smiles at that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Damn right you got the best crew. You got the best crew because I'm here," Tony boasts and the crew starts laughing together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hah! You should keep telling yourself that Tiny. Maybe then it'll actually be true," Thor speaks out and Tony gasps, offended. Whether he was playing along or was actually offended, Peter doesn't know. Both options were completely plausible.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"T-minus 1 minute." The crew does their final check before the last 10 seconds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"...3...2…1...and lift off!" Peter clutched the arm rests and prepared himself for the massive amount of force that'll be pushing him down towards the Earth as they go against the gravitational pull. He closes his eyes for what he thought was a second, but when he opens them again, they had already exited the atmosphere. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Omg, we did it…" Peter breathed out in disbelief. He feels something in his right hand and he notices that Bucky is holding it. He looks up at him and shakes the hand in thanks. Bucky nods back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The crew checks the control panel one more time and Clint makes sure that they're actually on route to the space station. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We'll arrive at the space station in 12 hours. Guess we have some time to kill. Anyone wanna play cards?” Clint announces. The card joke was able to calm Peter down some more and he looked out the windshield and his breath was stolen. It’s so beautiful. The vast collection of stars decorating the plane black space. Pictures and videos can’t do this justice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Beautiful,” Peter says out loud but was too mesmerized to look at Bucky as he responded with a breathless “Yeah.” If he had looked back at Bucky he would’ve noticed that he wasn’t looking at the view.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they finally boarded the space station and got everything up and running, they decided to familiarize themselves with the layout. They checked the boiler rooms, the medbay and everything else you could imagine. They decided to check their pods and see where they’ll be staying. The pods are quite large. They’re about the size of a normal hotel suite. A queen sized bed, a desk, a couple seats around a desk and an ensuite bathroom. They each had a huge floor to ceiling window with a breathtaking view of the universe. Peter and Bucky’s accommodation was different, however. Since he’s responsible for Bucky’s arm and needs to make sure he’s with him at all times just in case it malfunctions; They have to share one pod. The queen sized bed was split into two twin sized beds. They still had only one bathroom, however. Peter had been nervous about this part ever since he found out in his first mission briefing. He’s glad that he was able to become close with Bucky, so he’s not that nervous about them being awkward around each other. What he is nervous about are his feelings that have been slowly developing since they first met one another.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Which bed do you want? I don’t really mind which one,” Bucky said as he looked around the room. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can take the one closer to the window if you don’t mind,” Peter shyly says as he sits down on said bed. He has always been interested in space and stars which was a big part in him wanting to be an astronaut. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky just laughs fondly and says “Perfect” as he sits down on his bed. Their desk is also different from the others. It’s been turned into a mini workshop with mostly everything they need to take care of some minor malfunctions so they don’t have to go all the way to the lab just for something small like the arm freezing up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can take a shower while I take stock of everything in the room if you want. Check if all the tools are here,” Peter says mindlessly as he starts opening the drawers and checking things off his list. So far, everything seems to be there and called for. He didn’t notice how long it took but it must’ve been long enough because as soon as he turned around, Bucky was exiting the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. His hair was still a bit damp and there were water droplets running down his chest, falling in between the crevices of his muscles. Peter just wants to run his tongue across his body and catch the droplets before they fall. Or maybe follow their path leading to his di-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Pete, forgot my underwear out here. Do you have everything?” Bucky heads to his bag and starts rifling through it to look for his underwear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“O-oh. Ummm… Yeah! Got everything we need here. Good thing we don’t need anything like a di- I mean drill! Yeah… We don’t need a drill for your arm,” Peter stutters out as he tries to avoid staring at Bucky’s ass or his back which has the most gorgeous back muscles he’s ever seen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll go take my shower now and we can head to the cafeteria. Heard they wanted to meet up there in a few,” Peter says as he hurries to the bathroom, <em> with his underwear. Don’t want to walk into the room wearing nothing in front of Bucky… Well not yet, anyway. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a quick shower and putting on clothes <em> which Peter still had to leave the bathroom for because he forgot the rest of his clothes </em>, the duo left their pod and headed to the cafeteria. Once they got there, they could see that the rest of the team also took the chance to shower and change into more comfortable wear. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, kid. You two find your pod?” Tony gets up from his chair and throws an arm around his shoulder and he could’ve sworn he heard Bucky growl.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yup. We’re next to Nat, I think.” He looks at Bucky to ask for confirmation and he sees him nod but not without a scowl on his face. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Such a shame. Would’ve loved to have your pod next to mine. Instead, I’m stuck with Captain America over there.” Tony throws a thumb behind his back and Peter sees Steve coming in from the hallway and Peter couldn’t help but laugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I heard that, Tony. Anyways, I hope everyone settled in okay. We only have the basic diagnostic check up today which we’ll be doing bi-annually and after that, we’re free to roam the station. Everyone to their stations,” Steve announced and headed for the bridge. Tony and Clint were following him and everyone else went off in different directions. Peter turned around and saw Bucky already heading towards the electrical unit without him so Peter jogged to catch up with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Buck, wait up!” After finally catching up with Bucky, Peter asks him what Bucky’s going to check up on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m going to check up on the power levels and see if they’re all being distributed to each sector properly. There shouldn’t be any problems with my arm so you can join Stark at the bridge,” Bucky said coldly as he typed in the code on the keypad which was connected to the electrical room. </p>
<p><br/>“Why would I want to go to Tony?” Peter asked, confused. He doesn’t know what could’ve caused Bucky to have such a sour mood when they were just having a good time back at their pod.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whatever.” Bucky dismissed him and the doors closed in front of Peter. He doesn’t know if he should go join Bucky or let him cool down a bit. It turns out he doesn’t have to decide that for himself because Bruce was behind him with Nat and asked Peter if he could have some assistance at the medical wing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky knows it’s not fair of him to just push Peter away but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like the way Peter and Stark were so close to each other. Didn’t like how Stark’s arm was around Pete’s shoulders like it belonged there. Didn’t like how they had their own little jokes. Bucky was never a jealous person. Whenever his past partners were close with another person, he just let them be, but with Peter it’s different. They weren’t even dating! He was a bit disappointed with the fact that Peter didn’t follow after him once the doors closed. <em> He’s probably heading to Stark now because of you and they’ll talk and have a blast and Stark will ask Peter to be boyfriends and Peter will say yes and he’ll invite Anthony back to their pod and Bucky will either have to sit there and watch them be cuddly or leave his pod like a loser and- </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the mechanical sounds of the door opening. He turns around, expecting to see Peter, but instead sees Sam.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry. Not your sweet Petey Pie. Just plain old buddy, Sam,” Sam jesters and Bucky just grunts and turns back to the panel. After Peter, Sam was one of the closest people he’s befriended in the team, no matter how different they were. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at your post?” Bucky asks while logging down the data in front of him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was. The security cams. And what I saw was very interesting.” Shit. Did he see that? Of course he did. They were right in front of the cameras. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I-” Bucky didn’t know what he was going to say and he never will because Sam interrupted him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look. I know it’s none of my business but what you did really hurt Peter but he’s more worried if he made you mad at him. All I’m saying is get your shit together and talk to him.” And with that, Sam left, Bucky staring after him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter’s worried if he’s mad at him? Never. Bucky could never get mad at Peter. He’s an angel. Nothing he could do would make him hate Peter. Even if he starts dating someone else. Bucky will actually end up hating himself for not making a move. Or not being good enough to be considered an option. It was then that he decided to talk to Peter. What he’ll say he doesn’t know yet. He’ll cross that bridge when he gets there. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t see Peter again until dinner when they’re all together in the cafeteria. Peter luckily sits next to him. They make eye contact and Bucky gives him a small smile which Peter reciprocates. They start eating and making conversation with everyone and everything feels back to normal again. Peter’s laughing at his jokes and it makes Bucky smile. Everything was going well when Bucky stood up and hit Clint walking behind him causing him to spill his juice on his arm no less. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Băga-mi-aş!” Bucky exclaims. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shit, I’m sorry, Bucky.” Clint apologizes and starts dabbing napkins on his arm. That, however, only made things worse as pieces of it were getting ripped off and sticking to the arm. Peter luckily notices and stops Clint by taking the napkins away from him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll take care of it. It’s okay,” Peter calmly says. His eyebrows furrowed in worry as he inspected the arm up close. “Can you try moving your arm?” Peter looks at Bucky and Bucky almost gets lost in his eyes. He tries to move it but it doesn’t work. He tries to make a fist but still nothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come on. I’ll take you to the lab. The napkins must’ve just gotten stuck in between the flaps.” Peter stands up and holds an arm out for Bucky to grab. He takes it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry, man.” Bucky looks at Clint and could see him looking incredibly remorseful. He just laughs and pats his shoulder with his other arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s fine. Like Peter said, must’ve just gotten clogged. You’re fine. Just watch out. Might spill some juice on your hearing aids.” It seemed to do the trick as everyone including Clint laughed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He follows Peter and the voices of the team get quieter and quieter until all he can hear are their footsteps. During the entire walk, Peter and him don’t talk and Bucky is itching to say something to break the silence… but he doesn’t. Turns out that everything just seemed normal because they were all with the team. The tension was just hidden. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter opens the door for both of them and the lights immediately turn on as they walk in. The lab is filled with so much technology that he could sit in here for years and find something new (which is what’s probably going to happen if he’s being honest). Peter sits down at one of the workbenches filled with small screwdrivers and tools that are probably specifically made for his arm and gestures Bucky to sit in the stool in front of him. Silently. Bucky awkwardly sits in front of him and Peter pulls out an extension from the table next to them so there is a spot for Bucky to put his arm between him and Peter. He wordlessly lifts his arm and places it in front of Peter and Peter puts on his goggles, and examines the arm closer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“J.A.R.V.I.S. do a full scan on Bucky’s arm,” Peter says out loud to someone. Bucky’s confused because last time he checked they’re the only two inside the lab. All of a sudden, a voice speaks up and startles Bucky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course, Peter.” Bucky jumps and pulls his arm away accidentally. Peter laughs and holds his arm out for Bucky to place his in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay. It’s just the AI Tony put into the system so it could run smoother.” Bucky almost scowls when he hears Stark’s name but catches himself at the last minute. Peter smiles softly and gently takes Bucky’s arm and places it on the table again. The table lights up and starts scanning the arm. Bucky’s mesmerized.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Internal systems are functioning at full capacity, Peter. The joints are filled with a compound of fibers and a sticky substance which is primarily made out of fructose,” The disembodied voice says. Bucky’s confused and worried as to what could be wrong with his arm because if he broke his arm on their first da-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Basically tissue and juice clogged up the joints. I just have to clean it. Nothing to worry about,” Peter tells Bucky, sensing that he was stressing out over it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“O-oh. Thanks,” Bucky blushes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter picks up a small brush tool (which is just a glorified toothbrush if you look at it closely) and gives Bucky a small smile. “No problem.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nothing could be heard except for the quiet sounds of Peter cleaning the arm by either brushing it or removing the pieces with forceps and the quiet breathing of the two astronauts. Bucky looks down at the younger boy in front of him and sees that with the fluorescent lighting from the lab and the starry background behind him, Peter looks like an angel given to him by the universe. He jerks a bit to snap himself out of it and accidentally tugs the arm away. </p>
<p><br/>“Don’t move too much.” Peter mumbles out. He fishes what seems to be the last piece and directs Bucky to the sink to wash the juice off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Afterwards, he brings it back to the table where he procured a towel out of nowhere and pats the arm dry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Bucky whispers to Peter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, it’s fine. I’m sure it’s not the most comfortable feeling in the world,” Peter waves off. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s not what I mean,” Bucky says louder. Peter looks up at him in confusion and Bucky tries to explain himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I-I mean. That’s not the only thing I mean. I’m sorry for being rude to you today.” Bucky makes eye contact with Peter but Peter looks down after noticing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“O-oh…” Peter starts playing with the towel in his hands. Nervous. “It’s fine. You were probably stressed and I was being annoying-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No!” Bucky interrupts Peter before he could say anything else. “No, it’s not fine that I did that and you weren’t being annoying. I had no right to lash out at you like that. It’s just…” Peter looks up at him, awaiting his reasoning. Bucky could tell him right now. Take the shot. “... yeah. I was stressed and anxious about us being in this station all alone.” <em> Coward. You’re a coward. Couldn’t even tell him the real reason was because you like him and you want to kiss him. Because you hated how close he was to Stark. </em> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey. It’s okay. I’m nervous too. We’re gonna be up here for a while but you won’t be alone. You have me… and I have you. We’re in this together.” Peter takes both of his hands and holds them. They stay there just looking for each other. He might’ve not made a move but this is perfect too. Peter being framed by the star-filled universe behind him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, steaua mea,” Bucky says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No problem,” Peter blushes. “What did you say at the end? Stawa me? What does that mean?” Peter fires questions back to back, acting like a little puppy again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing. Let’s go. The others are probably waiting for us.” Bucky stands up and pulls Peter up with him. He starts walking towards the cafeteria and doesn’t let go of his hand. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m serious what does it mean!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s been three years since Peter left Earth to man the space station with the, now dubbed, “Avengers” and everything has been going smoothly. There have been no major casualties and the space station has been acting as if it was brand new. He’ll never tell Bucky but Peter thinks a big part of that is because of Tony’s AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. he uploaded to the station’s server. He’s still not sure why Bucky seems to dislike Tony. He’s tried to make Bucky warm up to him and it seems to be working, however slow it may be. They, of course, had multiple arguments over the years, some more than others, but they always come back to their pod together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Living with Bucky was even better than he could’ve imagined. Bucky was such a thoughtful and kind roommate (<em> podmate? </em> ). He made sure to knock on the bathroom everytime he wanted to use it, even if Peter’s not in it, and brought him some snacks from the cafeteria even when he didn't ask for them. There is <em> one </em>downside to living with Bucky. The fact that he’s sharing a room with the most beautiful man in the universe. Bucky never brings a change of clothes whenever he takes a bath so he always comes out of the bathroom looking like sex on legs with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He also sleeps shirtless because it’s more comfortable for his shoulder when he detaches the arm. So, mornings kill Peter when the first thing he sees is Bucky with sleep-mussed hair, his bare torso looking delectable and his pyjamas hanging low on his hips so he can see the v-line running toward his dick. He also sees a trail of hair running down from his belly button and into a patch of curls resting on top of said dick. Oh yeah! Bucky sleeps commando too. He also doesn’t have that much private time so he can’t even rub one out quickly. He would never ask for a different pod, though. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>His favorite time during the day is at night, to be more specific before they go to sleep. They lie in their own beds and just sit in each other’s company. Yes, they’re always together 24/7 around the station but it’s somehow different. They don’t necessarily have to talk, either. They could be reading something with the bedside lamps on and just lay in silence. And when they do talk it’s always in such soft and whispered voices. The pods are soundproof so they don’t have to speak quietly but they do it nonetheless. The things they talk about during their night time could range from something mindless like “How do merpeople reproduce?” to something more personal. Like tonight for example.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why did you want to be an astronaut?” Bucky says as he lies down flat on his back, staring straight at the ceiling. Peter puts his book down and looks out the window. They have an agreement that if one of them doesn’t want to talk about a certain topic they just drop it so Bucky patiently waits. They sit in silence for a while before Peter decides to answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was always interested in science ever since I was a kid. My aunt and uncle said it was because my parents were both scientists and that it must’ve passed on down to me. My uncle only fed my interest when he took me to museums with the spare change he had. We didn’t have a lot of money back then so when they bought me my first science kit when I was 7, I was so excited. After he... died, we couldn’t afford to go on any of those trips anymore. I was able to get a scholarship to a science oriented school and I just stuck with it.” He paused. Bucky turned so he was facing him and Peter faced him and they made eye contact. “I wanted to be an astronaut because I felt as though I can get closer to my parents and my uncle if I go to space.” Peter laughs and shakes his head. “It sounds stupid I know but it got me to where I am right now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, it’s not stupid!” Bucky pushes himself up and sits with his legs crossed, fully facing Peter. “I think it’s beautiful.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“O-oh. Thank you.” Peter blushes. “What about you? Why did you want to be an astronaut?” Peter copies Bucky’s position.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s not as beautiful as your story. I became an astronaut out of… what’s the word… oh yes, spite,” Bucky smiles and Peter laughs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t be serious,” Peter says in between laughing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am! I come from a poor family as well. If you remember, my hometown was quite small so everybody knew each other. People made fun of me and kept telling me I wouldn’t be able to get out of town. That I’d be stuck there and be an auto repairman like my family. My mother told me that I shouldn’t listen to them and that I will be able to go out to the world and see what it has in store for me. That I should reach for the stars. And so I did. I worked hard to prove them wrong and I reached the stars,” Bucky finishes with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jamie, that’s so beautiful, what are you talking about? I loved that,” Peter breathes out softly. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you.” They just sit there and stare at each other before Bucky speaks up again. “We should probably go to sleep.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re probably right.” They close the lamps and get underneath their covers. “Goodnight, Jamie.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Goodnight, steluṭa mea.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>___________________</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sleeping was a weird thing, too. There was practically no outside noise so it was too quiet and it made it difficult for Peter to fall asleep. He got used to the bustling background noise coming from his bedroom window back in Queens. He’s tried using white noise machines to help him but it didn’t really help and it seemed to keep Bucky up as well. He figured out a solution though. He just played some ASMR video he found online (they surprisingly had connection to the internet this far away) and just listened to it using earphones. They seemed to do the trick but he found a new way to fall asleep one night. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter woke up to the sounds of rustling and pained groans. Peter pulls out his earphones and turns on his lamp. He looks to his side and sees Bucky turning in his bed, seeming to be caught in a bad nightmare. Bucky always seemed to be in pain or something whenever he slept. His eyebrows furrowed and his breathing heavy. He asked him once and Bucky just said he had nightmares sometimes and to not worry about it. Peter let go of it but was still worried because it wasn’t sometimes. It was every night and it worried Peter to hell. Sometimes he’d wake up violently with a gasp and look around in what could be fear. Peter tried to comfort him but Bucky just stood up and excused himself to the bathroom. He suspects the nightmares were about how he lost his arm because he would wake up and look to his left, expecting to see an arm that isn’t there. Peter left it alone for another week before he decided he needed to do something other than just offer him a glass of water when he wakes up. He hates watching from the side, feeling useless. So one night, he pretended to fall asleep and waited until Bucky started to thrash in his bed. And eventually, he did. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter got up and slowly walked over to Bucky’s side, not wanting to wake him up and make everything worse. He reached his bed and got on. He leaned his head towards Bucky’s ear and started whispering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay, Jamie. You’re safe. Nobody’s going to hurt you. I’m here.” He kept whispering calming things to him and at first Peter wasn’t sure if it would work but then Bucky started moving less and his breathing started to calm down. Bucky’s head ended up on Peter’s shoulder, both of them lying down, Bucky’s face pressed against his neck. Peter could feel Bucky’s breath against his neck and he just pulled Bucky closer, running his hand through Bucky’s long hair, massaging his scalp. Eventually Bucky woke up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wha- what happened? Peter? What are you doing?” Bucky removed his face from Peter’s shoulder and looked at him, confused, eyes running around, taking in everything it can see. As if he was making sure of where he actually was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You had a nightmare and… I wanted to help,” Peter replied softly, still carding his hands through Bucky’s hair. It was soothing for both of them. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh no, did I wake you up? I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have to do this,” Bucky starts frantically apologizing to Peter and Peter stops him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, it’s ok. And I told you. I wanted to help you. Tell me what’s going on. Please,” Peter pleads with Bucky, looking him in his eyes. He wants to help his… friend. Wants to know what’s going on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I…” Bucky opens his mouth to say something but closes it again. He opens it again but no words come out. He closes it, takes a deep breath and speaks. “I have… nightmares. Of when I lost my arm. They feel so vivid. Like I’m actually back there.” Bucky’s voice is tight. Almost like the words are physically choking him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, Jamie…” Peter doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to seem like he’s pitying him. But he doesn’t know what else to say.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay, Peter. I’ve had them for a while and I’ve gotten used to it… It’s just that… lately, I’ve been having different ones. Ones where…” Bucky stops and Peter reaches for his hand and holds it. Bucky grabs on, tightly. “Ones where I lose you.” Bucky looks up at Peter and Peter leans in close, their noses touching. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, it’s okay… I’m staying right here. I’m not going anywhere. I mean, I literally can’t, but still. I’ll always be by your side,” Peter says, both of them crying. Bucky leans in and Peter thinks they’re about to kiss right there but Bucky instead hides his face in Peter’s shoulder. They stay hugging in the same bed, neither making a move to disentangle themselves from each other. Peter is making no plans to return to his own bed and before long Peter falls asleep with his head resting on Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky looks down at him and presses a light kiss on his forehead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Noapte bună, steaua mea si îți mulțumesc."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For once, ever since his accident, he finally had a peaceful sleep and Bucky has a feeling that it’s because of Peter. He woke up at a proper time once and the sight he woke up to was breathtaking. Peter with his face smooshed into Bucky’s shoulder while he’s letting out quiet puffs of air. His eyelashes look like canopies making his fair skin look even prettier, a small line of drool falling from his mouth. He could definitely get used to this. Peter starts groaning as he wakes up and Bucky’s dick gives a little twitch at the sound. Peter opens his eyes and they make eye contact. He blushes deeply, embarrassed that he fell asleep on Bucky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“G-good morning,” Peter squeaks out. “Sorry for falling asleep on you.” He doesn’t make a move to get off of Bucky, however. Seemingly comfortable using Bucky as his own personal pillow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t be. I slept well last night,” Bucky smiles and Peter becomes painfully aware of how close he is to Bucky. He’s also aware of his half-hard boner pressing against Bucky. He’s just hoping Bucky doesn’t notice. <em> He noticed </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hah, maybe I’m your guardian angel,” Peter throws out as a joke and slowly pulls away from Bucky while pulling the blanket to cover himself. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You are,” Bucky says and Peter’s heart skips a beat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And if they push their beds together and sleep together every night since then, it’s nobody’s business but theirs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good morning, guys. It’s officially our fifth year on the Avenger. Congratulations to everyone,” Steve announces in the cafeteria and everyone hollers and applauds. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can’t believe we’ve been here for five years,” Clint says around a straw from his glass of juice. Bucky steers Peter away from his table, still wary of Clint whenever he drinks anything sticky. No. Anything <em> period </em>. In the four years they’ve been here, Clint has spilled something on Bucky twenty seven times. Bucky’s pretty sure more than half of those instances were intentional. But it’s also not out of the realms of possibility that all twenty seven incidents were accidental. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“After our bi-annual check up, we will have a group conference call with Nick Fury back at ground control. Great job, everybody,” Steve says and goes to sit down next to Peter. They start chatting while they’re eating when Peter notices Bucky’s grim expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s wrong, Ja- Bucky?” Peter asks Bucky, brows furrowed. Bucky smiles a bit at Peter’s little mistake. He only calls him Jamie when they’re alone, like it’s their own thing. Bucky likes that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s just… It’s been really easy the past five years. I can’t help but feel like something bad is going to happen,” Bucky says out loud and Steve sighs. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re right, but I don’t like thinking about it. Let’s try and stay positive, okay?” Steve tells Bucky and gets up to talk to the other astronauts. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky just forces a smile and he knows that Peter knows it’s fake too. It’s not his fault he always assumes something bad is gonna happen. Steve’s probably right though. Nothing bad is going to happen</p>
<p> </p>
<p>--------------------------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something bad happened. The space station got hit by something. Could’ve been a small meteor. Everybody is safe but that wasn’t the problem; One of their satellites got hit and is currently down. Without it they can’t contact the control center properly and have proper scans of Earth. <em> Just their luck. Didn’t know Parker Luck </em> <em> ™ included outer space on it’s phone plan. Really wish he could cancel that subscription. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s the situation out there?” Bucky pulls Peter close to him with his arm around his shoulder. The entire team is in the main control room and is looking at Sam pulling up the cameras for the outside. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The actual dish seems to be alright. I think it just needs to have some touch ups and a reboot,” Sam tells the team as he flips between different cameras showing different angles of the satellite. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then what are we waiting for? Everyone, to their stations!” Steve tells the team, ordering them all to go to their station.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s a problem,” Sam interrupts. Of course there is. Peter lifts his arm and takes Bucky’s hand still resting on his shoulder in his. He squeezes it gently and Bucky gives a small squeeze back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right now, it can only be rebooted from the outside, so Bucky will have to go on a spacewalk.” Bucky is the one in charge of anything needed to do outside of the station because his metal arm doesn’t need to be encased in the thick space suit which makes it difficult for the rest of the team to take care of things needing a more careful touch like wires.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, I’ll suit up.” Bucky says and squeezes Peter’s hand, comforting Peter, who’s openly nervous about Bucky going outside. He knows that Bucky is plenty trained and can do everything safely and efficiently but that doesn’t stop him from worrying. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s another problem with that.” Clint pops up and Peter groans. “Just before the satellite went down, I was able to get a scan of our surroundings.” Clint pulls up the latest scan he got and they all see a colourful mass coming towards the indicator representing the Avenger. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You see that shit right there? That’s a geomagnetic storm and we’re heading right towards it. By the time Bucky gets out there, we’ll be caught in it and flight systems will start to fail,” Clint explains. “When that happens, it’ll be hard for you to maneuver out there since we have minimal control. When you get the satellite up, we can find a route to get us out of the storm.” Bucky stays silent but nods, showing he understood. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No.” Peter didn’t even notice he was speaking before the word came out. Everyone seems shocked to hear Peter just openly deny something, especially with such malice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What? What do you mean?” Steve turns to Peter. He knows Peter isn’t the type to speak up when something upsets him so this really came as a surprise to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Pete,” Bucky turns Peter to face him. “I have to go…” Peter just shakes his head and turns to the rest of the team. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No! He can’t go out there while there’s a storm. If Jamie’s out there during the storm, the waves will cause his arm to malfunction and he won’t be able to fix the satellite and then we won’t be able to get out of the storm safely and then we’ll start losing altitude and then-” Peter starts rambling, thinking the worst. He can’t bear the thought of Bucky going out there, risking his life. Everything starts to get a little blurry. He can’t focus on anything. He sees his friends’ mouths moving but all he hears are muffled droning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A panic attack. Peter’s having a panic attack. He hasn’t had those ever since his Uncle Ben died when he was 14. He thought that he finally got over them. Turns out it sticks with you. He can feel someone holding him but he can’t look up to see who it is,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“....er…...eathe….” Whoever’s holding him is trying to speak to him. The voice is clearer than the voices before but it’s still hard to understand. All of a sudden he feels hands, one warm and one cold, hold his face and tilt it upwards to look at someone’s eyes. It’s Bucky. He looks at his lips and sees that he’s trying to say something. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Peter, breathe. Come on. You can do it. Just copy me.” Bucky exaggerates his breathing and takes Peter’s hand to rest on his chest so he can feel him inhaling and exhaling. Peter takes ragged breaths trying to copy him and slowly but surely, Peter comes out of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There you go. It’s okay, Pete. I’m here.” Bucky pulls Peter into a tight hug and Peter wraps his arms around his shoulders, squeezing him just as tight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please don’t go,” Peter whispers into Bucky’s shoulder in a low voice so only Bucky can hear it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I have to, steluṭa mea. Otherwise we’re all in danger. I wish there were better circumstances, but we have no choice,” Bucky whispers back just as quiet. The rest of the team are standing awkwardly around the pair. They were shocked with how quick Bucky reacted to Peter getting a panic attack and feel like they’re intruding on a private conversation. They all turn to Steve and he signals them to get everything prepared for Bucky’s spacewalk and they all leave Peter and Bucky alone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter was the first one to pull away from the hug and it’s only to look at Bucky in the eyes and the sight Bucky saw was heartbreaking. Peter’s eyes are all red and is letting out a stream of tears. His breathing is still trying to inhale enough air but can’t keep up so it just takes in air in short bursts. Bucky never wants to see that face ever. Especially not when he’s the cause of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why does it have to be you… Why can’t we send someone else out there? They can do it!” Peter shouts out, his grip on Bucky’s arm still there, gripping harder. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know why, Pete. It’s my job. I have to do this. Just like you how your job is to fix my arm.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’re all trained to do it too!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But we need my arm for the finer details.” Bucky responds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then we can use forceps!” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Peter…” Peter knows that he sounds like a crying child right now and Bucky is like a parent calmly placating him. For every loud outburst Peter has, Bucky just responds with a calm voice. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I-I…” Peter sags, twisting the sleeves of Bucky’s shirt. “I just don’t want to lose someone again.” Peter has lost way too many people for someone his age. He can’t handle losing another person he lo- likes. No. Loves. He loves Bucky. It’s the truth. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky cups Peter’s face with his arm and Peter leans into it. “Hey, I promise you. I’ll be alright.” Peter shakes his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t promise that!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey! I can. I promise you, I’ll come back safe. I have a reason to.” Peter stops crying (as hard) and looks at Bucky with a confused face. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A reason?” Peter questions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. You. When this is over, I have something to tell you.” Peter’s breath hitches but this time it wasn’t because of him crying. Could it be?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why don’t you tell me now…” Peter breathes out. He’s calming down but his heartbeat is getting faster. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because, then I’ll want to come back faster.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter watches Bucky put on his specific spacesuit, one with only one sleeve. Tony is helping Bucky put it on and activates the airlock on the other “sleeve” so while the arm isn’t covered by the suit, it’s still sealed off to keep Bucky and his oxygen tank safe. Peter did last minute check ups after their talk in the control room- which was actually supposed to be just one check-up but Peter kept fussing over Bucky and his arm, worried that he missed something and he only relented when Tony came in and took Bucky away from Peter. Peter hears a loud hiss and he knows that Tony finished. It’s time for Bucky to go out. They checked everything one last time- oxygen tanks, tether, toolbelt- and Tony left the airlock. The door closed behind him and Bucky took one last look at Peter and waved. Peter waved back and the other door of the airlock opened. Bucky exited the room and the door shut behind him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey,” Tony puts his hand on Peter and squeezes his shoulder. “Let’s go to Steve in the control room. We’ll be able to see him from there with the cameras." Peter just nods and lets Tony direct him towards the control room. He can’t stop thinking about everything that could go wrong. He’s itching to put on his own suit and go out there with him. Whether he’s gonna help Bucky or drag him back in, he doesn’t know so it’s a good thing that Tony has a hand on Peter. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter must’ve been zoning out the entire walk back because the next thing he knows he’s sitting down in the control room and sees the rest of the team running around. He’s on the main platform overlooking the entire center with Steve as he’s ordering people around.  He turns around and sees that Peter is looking at him and he smiles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, kid. Glad to have you back, and just in time, too.” Steve smiles at him and Peter is about to ask what he means when Sam announces “Live feed, going up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of a sudden, Peter sees Bucky’s face up on the main screen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jamie…” Peter whispers unintentionally. He stands up and walks slowly towards the edge of the platform.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can you hear us, Bucky?” Steve says out loud. They were standing in silence waiting for Bucky to respond, anxious. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hear you loud and clear, derbedeule." Bucky’s voice came through and everybody sighed in relief. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Steve laughs. “I’m not even going to ask what that means. Is everything alright so far?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, oxygen levels are still high and the tether is still attached.” Bucky says as he pulls on the tether a bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How’s your arm?” Peter asks and Bucky laughs. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s still fine, Pete. We’re still near the edge of the storm. Thanks for worrying about me, darling.” Bucky winks at the end of the sentence and Peter blushes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-stop it, Bucky, I’m serious!” Peter shakes his head and has a frown on his face. “The second you feel something weird happening to your arm, you come back inside immediately, you hear me?!” Peter tells him off sternly. Bucky is able to turn a bad situation into a funny one and make the atmosphere lighter and that’s something Peter loves about him but right now, he doesn’t think it’s funny that Bucky is joking around when his life is possibly at risk. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Pete.” Bucky replies and Peter sees that he seems to be actually feeling sorry for making Peter more worried than he should be. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I-it’s okay. Just… make it back,” Peter says. He then remembers that the rest of the team are also in the room and he feels embarrassed for his outburst in front of them. “I’ll just be over here keeping an eye on the arm’s diagnostics,” he trails off, pointing to his station and tries to avoid eye-contact with everyone else. He sits down and sees Sam giving him a smug look and Peter slaps his arm and turns towards his station, pulling up the arm’s status.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky starts moving out of frame from the camera and the screen changes. The screen now shows two feeds. The main screen is showing what Bucky sees and a smaller screen in the corner shows the feed coming from inside Bucky’s helmet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you see the satellite yet?” Steve asks which Peter thinks is a dumb question. They can see what he sees right there on the big screen in front of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No. I see the cafeteria though. Is that… Clint EATING MY SHIT?! HEY!” On the screen they can see Bucky’s fist slamming at the big floor to ceiling window of the cafeteria where Clint is currently eating apparently one of Bucky’s cupcakes. Clint jumps and drops the half eaten cupcake on the table. He frantically looks around trying to see where the noise is coming from and finally makes eye contact with Bucky. He smirks and picks up the cupcake and heads towards Bucky. He reaches the window and shoves the cupcake into his mouth all at once while flipping Bucky off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I COME BACK IN THERE I’M GONNA STRANGLE THAT CUPCAKE OUT OF YOU!” Bucky yells and the team in the control room laughs at what’s going on; Even Peter feels a bit better after watching Clint tease Bucky through the window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, okay enough joking around. Bucky, get to the satellite.” Nat stops the whole thing while shaking her head. Bucky starts to move again but not without mumbling. It isn’t that audible but Peter can guess it’s something like “<em> I better come back to at least twelve cupcakes less </em>”. Peter chuckles and shakes his head. He might be the younger between the two of them but sometimes Bucky acts even younger than him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky starts heading his way down the window towards the downed satellite dish on the underside of the station. He reaches the control panel without much trouble. He opens it and starts restarting the dish. Things were going smoothly and Peter was thinking that Bucky might be able to come back in soon but then of course something has to happen. Red lights start flashing and a siren starts blasting throughout the station. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s going on?!” Peter asks frantically although he has an idea as to what the problem could be.  Clint runs into the control room with frosting around his mouth and he, as well as everyone else, rush to their stations. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s the storm. It’s making some of our flight systems fail and we’re losing altitude fast.” Steve yells out. “Clint, are you able to find a route out yet?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Clint swallows the last chunk of cupcake left in his mouth and winces as it was too big for it to go down smoothly. “Not yet. With that satellite down I can’t make an exact route, only an estimate.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The entire station shakes and Peter grabs onto the desk. “Do it! We need to get out of here while we still have some of our flight systems functioning. Thor, Tony, get ready to get us out of here,” Steve barks out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter looks at the screen up on his station and sees how fast they’re losing altitude. His eyes widen and he quickly turns to look at the live feed of Bucky outside. It’s black. The feed must’ve gotten cut off by the storm. Peter doesn’t know what comes over him. All he knows is he was on his feet in one second and is bolting down the halls in the next. He can vaguely hear someone calling for him but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is Bucky. He trips while running but he just gets back up and starts running again. He rounds a corner and is almost to the cafeteria when he suddenly can’t feel the ground underneath his feet. He looks down and sees that he’s floating. The artificial gravity must’ve been deactivated. Whether it was intentional or a malfunction, Peter doesn’t know. All that matters is that Peter makes it to the cafeteria to see if Bucky’s ok. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sees the handlebars on the sides and tops of the hallways for this exact situation and tries to reach for it. He grabs onto one and starts pulling himself towards his destination. He makes it to the entryway of the cafeteria and scans the windows for Bucky. He spots him at the east side of the window and kicks off the wall to get there faster. He passes by Bucky’s floating cupcakes that Clint was eating. He finally makes it to the window and touches the glass with his fingertips. He’s about ten feet off the ground and Peter feels a wave of emotions wash over him. He feels relieved that Bucky is still attached to the station thanks to the tether around him; He feels worry because Bucky is unconscious; He feels free because he feels like he’s flying but at the same time he feels terrified because he doesn’t know how to wake Bucky up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He starts banging on the window, screaming. “BUCKY! WAKE UP! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! PLEASE!” Peter doesn’t stop but Bucky can’t hear him. The screaming turns into sobs, the banging turns into weak slaps on the window. “You promised…” Peter closes his eyes and rests his forehead on the cool glass. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He jolts when he hears a banging on the other side of the window. He opens his eyes and sees Bucky awake, waving with his human arm, the metal one limp on the other side, smiling. Peter lets out a sound of relief and smiles back. He places his palm on the window and Bucky mimics him. They stay there floating for a while before Bucky points down, signalling that he’s gonna go to fix the dish.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No… no… no! JAMES GET BACK IN HERE!!” But he’s already gone down. Peter screams with his mouth closed in frustration. He turns around and kicks off the window, heading back to the control room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He makes it back to the control room and sees the team either straddled down to their seats with seatbelts or floating from station to station. He sees Steve holding onto the railing of the platform barking out orders. He turns around and sees Peter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Peter! Where have you been!? We lost contact with Bucky and couldn’t find you anywhere. We’re stranded in the middle of the geomagnetic storm with our flight systems down,” Steve spews out, clearly stressed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Cap. I had to check up on Bucky out in the cafeteria. He was unconscious but he’s awake now. He went back down to fix the dish but his metal arm is down.” Peter goes over to Steve and hugs him. Steve squeezes him tightly and they start to float up because Steve let go of the railing. Steve pulls away and grabs onto the railing and Peter, pulling both of them back down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We can’t connect to Bucky right now so all we can do is hope that Bucky is able to restart that satellite dish so Clint can get us out of here safely.” Steve turns to look at the screens in front of him, trying to figure out a way to get back in contact with Bucky. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter nods and pulls himself towards his own station and pulls up his screen. The display is showing Bucky’s arm but a big “DISCONNECTED” is flashing in front of him. Without the arm, Bucky won’t be able to restart the dish, at least not fast enough. He looks around and tries to come up with ideas when he spots Tony next to him speaking to J.A.R.V.I.S.. <em> That’s it! </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tony! Is J.A.R.V.I.S. still running?” Peter turns to Tony and Tony is stunned for a bit before responding. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. I was able to make him resistant to the storm by-” Tony tries to explain but Peter cuts him off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Great, just what I need. Thanks!” Peter turns to his own screen. “ Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S. can you try to connect Bucky’s arm, serial code 13 08 19 83.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, kid in order to do that do you not only need to have an established connection but-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“-the arm must also be programmed to allow remote control, I know. Lucky for us, I already did that.” Peter finishes Tony’s sentence. He inputs the user code and just as he hits enter the main screen shows Bucky’s feed again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Communication systems are back on!” Sam says next to him. Peter turns around and sees Bucky’s face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Bucky, can you hear me?” Steve says and Bucky didn’t seem to expect to hear anyone because he visibly jumped. He also might have let out a high pitched yelp but who knows (Sam).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Mulțumesc Doamne.” They hear Bucky whisper under his breath. “Glad you guys finally decided to show up,” Bucky says annoyed but they all know that he’s relieved that he can hear them again.</p>
<p>“Well we’re here now. What are you doing out there? Get back in here, now!” Steve yells at Bucky but Bucky just shakes his head. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can’t do that, Cap. If I don’t do this then we’re stuck here till the storm passes and who knows what damage that could cause” Bucky grunts as he tries to access the panel with the gloved hand but fails.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t do that without your arm! If you come in we can fix your arm and wait till it’s safer.” Steve tries to reason but Bucky rejects the idea.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry, Cap but that’s not happening. We don’t know when this storm will pass. I have to do this now… Aha!” Bucky lets out a little yelp as he finally gets the panel open. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But-” Steve tries to argue again but Peter cuts him off. The longer they argue, the longer Bucky stays out there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let him do it, Stevie. Trust me.” Steve looks at Peter, shocked. Out of everyone, he’d expect Peter to want Bucky back in as well, not argue for him to stay out there. But seeing Peter’s confident look, Steve relents and nods. Giving Bucky the go ahead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thanks, stea.” Bucky looks into the camera and smiles. He returns back to the panel and Peter returns to his screen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Remote access successful, Peter,” J.A.R.V.I.S. announces and Peter whoops. He tests the arm by using the controls to lift it when he hears Bucky screaming.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“WHOA WHOA!” Bucky’s panicked voice comes through the sound system and Peter turns and sees the arm moving, doing exactly what Peter wants it to do. There’s a slight delay but nothing too big. He’ll have to fix that later but right now what’s important is fixing the dish.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who’s doing this?” Bucky asks and Steve turns to Peter and they make eye contact. Steve has a proud look on his face as he says his name. Bucky looks at his arm in awe and touches it with his other hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I hope you don’t mind me lending you a hand, James,” Peter laughs anxiously at his own joke as he navigates the arm towards the panel, activating the tool function, turning the tip of the index finger to a key with four needle-like tips. He inserts it into a port in the panel and turns it. Bucky looks at the satellite dish and they see that it booted back up and started to move again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Navigation is online again!” Clint yells out and the team all applaud. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Find a route and get us out of here! Nat, Tony, reel Bucky back in now!” Steve runs over to take Tony’s place and helps Thor steer them out of there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony and Nat unbuckle themselves from their chairs and start floating their way to the airlock closest to the cafeteria. Peter detaches the arm from the panel and tries to help Bucky by pulling the tether to get him closer to the airlock. He watches the screen and sees Bucky make his way towards the airlock and he finally sees Tony and Nat through the window. The tether started pulling Bucky in on its own and he’s making his way faster now. When Bucky finally touches down on the floor of the space station, Peter disconnects from the arm and pushes himself to Bucky. He can feel the space station starting to move and it’s making it more difficult to navigate the space station while floating, making it take longer for him to get to Bucky. He’s pulling himself down the hallway when he hears Bucky laugh echo through the halls and that makes Peter move faster, pull on the handles harder. He pulls too fast though, and crashes into the wall when he turns the corner. He looks up and sees Tony and Nat taking the space suit off of Bucky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Bucky…” Peter whimpers and pulls through the entrance. Bucky whips his head up and swims over to Peter. They crash midair in a tight hug. Peter’s arms around his neck and pushes his face in between his neck and shoulder. Bucky wraps his one mobile arm around Peter’s torso and places his face in Peter’s hair, breathing him in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was so worried,” Peter says quietly and Bucky pulls away. Peter looks into Bucky’s eyes with his own teary ones. Bucky leans in and kisses Peter. Peter is shocked for a few seconds but then closes his eyes and leans into the kiss. The kiss is slow and passionate. It’s not rushed at all. It’s just perfectly… Bucky. He smiles into the kiss and lets out a relieved sob. They eventually pull away and Peter opens his eyes slowly. The first thing he sees is Bucky smiling back at him with the softest look on his face. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now that I’m back, I can finally tell you what I wanted to tell you for the longest time,” Bucky says breathlessly, like the kiss affected him as much as it did Peter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter leans in and gives Bucky’s lips a quick peck. “What is it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you,” Bucky tells Peter and Peter’s smile just gets impossibly wider.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Called it. Pay up, Stark,” he hears Nat whisper to Tony and Tony grumbles back a response. Peter just throws his head back and laughs. He calms down and looks into Bucky’s eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you too,” Peter says back and crashes their lips back together. This kiss was somehow even better than the first one and he feels like he’s floating. Yes, he is literally floating but his heart feels so light. That’s of course when the artificial gravity decided to turn back on and send them crashing to the ground. Peter landed on Bucky and he heard a little “Oof!” coming from underneath him and Peter can’t help but laugh harder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you, steluṭa mea,” Bucky says again and kisses him again, squeezing him tighter. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you too,” Peter says and they just lay there on the ground even after Tony and Nat go back to the control room. They’re cuddling in comfortable silence for a while when Peter decides to ask Bucky a question. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Jamie? What does ‘steluṭa mea’ mean and why do you keep saying it?” Peter looks up at Bucky, struggling to pronounce the words properly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky just chuckles softly and responds: “It means ‘my star’. It’s because you guide me through everything. Like a star in the night.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Look at them being so cute! So glad how this turned out! Please let me know if you want a part two of just pure smut because I'm thinking of just leaving it like this. Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>~~~~~~~</p>
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